The whole pipe world will churn for a decade on this and other changes.
That's a gross understatement.
If the FDA rules go ahead as scheduled, and the government's enforcement powers continue unchecked, this will be the beginning of the end for the pipe tobacco business. The cost and complexity of doing business under these regulations will limit the field to all but the largest tobacco companies. At the same time, the regulation's forced elimination of so many established brands, and the ban on new products will mean that the consumer base will shrink, sales will drop and industry players will exit the field (as we are seeing with Dunhill). The pipe tobacco business (and the cigar business) can only grow through introduction of new products. Once the novelty of new prodct is gone, there is no future. Sure, a lot of us will hang on, smoking our cellars and telling tales of the good old days, but you won't see many new folks taking up pipe smoking.
Where this ultimately ends, I can't say for certain, but the pipe world as we know it will end on 8-8-18.
TEOTPWAWKI.
